When Jon Cornish’s dazzling football season ended, he took a week off.

Then went back to work at the bank.

If you hoped a CFL player with a quintessential CFL story would someday again win the prestigious Lou Marsh Trophy, you got it on Monday when the Calgary Stampeders running back was named the 72nd winner of the award as Canada’s athlete of the year.

Yes, a bank teller is Canada’s best athlete for 2013.

“I was asking my mom, ‘Have I ever won anything like this?’ She didn’t think so,” laughed Cornish from his Calgary home.

“It’s a huge honour. I never expected to be selected. I guess it shows if you really put your mind to something ... it’s a nice affirmation for me.”

At a time when the CFL has stabilized itself and is expanding back to Ottawa for next season, having Cornish become the first player from the league to win the Lou Marsh since the legendary Russ Jackson in 1969 just added a little more history to Cornish’s season.

Cornish narrowly defeated tennis star Milos Raonic and bobsledder Kaillie Humphries for the award after what was an intense debate involving 22 representatives of Canadian media organizations on Monday morning.

The debate largely centred around the challenge of measuring the CFL against competing on the international tennis circuit versus being a world champion bobsledder. Raonic became the first Canadian male to crack the top 10 ATP world rankings this season and led Canada to the Davis Cup world semifinals, while Humphries is the reigning world champion in bobsled.

Cornish’s distinctive accomplishments as a rare Canadian running back, however, won over the voters.

“When you think of all the athletic awards, the Lou Marsh stands out,” said Jackson, who retired after the ’69 season in which he won the award.

“It’s difficult for any team athlete to win that award. You really have to stand out. I think he’s great. Jon and (Saskatchewan running back Kory) Sheets had a great battle for the rushing title this season. He’s quick, he has great speed, and his ability to go sideways as fast as he goes forward is really amazing.”

Cornish led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,813 yards, becoming the first Canadian to capture the league’s most outstanding player award since Tony Gabriel 35 years ago.

Not bad for a kid from New Westminster who graduated from St. Thomas More high school, went to the University of Kansas and broke a bunch of school records, and then headed right home to Canada without giving the riches of the NFL much of a thought.

“It was basically my fault I never tried to go to the NFL,” said Cornish. “But after I was drafted into the CFL, in my mind I wanted to make a living playing football in Canada. I knew it would take time to learn the pro game. But I’m a patient person.”

Cornish joined the Stampeders in 2007, but didn’t become a starter at running back until the 2012 season. Of course, this being the CFL, it’s amazing he became a starter at all, given that it’s a position traditionally reserved for Americans.

Canadians need not apply.

“You don’t normally have Canadians at the marquee running back position. But I had a great collegiate education at Kansas,” he said. “That equipped me to play the game the same as a running back from the United States.”

The Stamps had all kinds of injuries on the offensive line this season but, led by CFL rookie-of-the-year Brett Jones, still managed to open lots of holes for Cornish to gallop through. Calgary finished first in the west before losing to the eventual Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West final.

“The season went about the way I predicted it would go,” said Cornish. “I was aiming for 1,600 yards. But Sheets had so many carries and so many yards, I had to up my total. I don’t usually like doing that. I like going with what I planned.”

Cornish’s success this season might create opportunities down the road for other Canadians to become feature backs in the CFL. For now, it will take a while for him to absorb all that has happened this season, all the history he has created.

“This is insane,” he chuckled after learning he’d won the Lou Marsh.

So count your twenties if you make a withdrawal at a certain Calgary bank.

Canada’s best-known bank teller may be a little distracted for a while.

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